Tough Ticket in Toronto

Despite missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year, Toronto FC has sold all 16,000 season tickets for 2009. According to the club, 95 percent of ticket holders renewed their full-season packages. TFC leaves about 4,000 seats available for partial season ticket packages and single-game sales.

Might we see the same Canadian enthusiasm if Vancouver is given an expansion team?

Canadians are bound to be more excited than Americans. It's a numbers game. We're over-saturated here with big-time sports, with both college and pro. MLS might not seem big-time to many Americans, but it probably does seem that way for a lot of Canadians.

I agree to an extent fischy, but this is Toronto we're talking about. Very much a major North American sports city. I think the theory that Canada doesn't have big sports does not apply there. They have MLB, NBA, NHL and CFL - heck, they might be getting NFL too (that's more competition than a few MLS cities). And it's a good city when it comes to overall sports attendance.

What TFC did do really well was play up their Canadian-ness. I think it attracts a certain patriotism up there. Don't know if that would automatically translate into something that Vancouver could take advantage of. Although Vancouver has some things in common with Toronto - cosmopolitan cities.

Agree with Kev29.
Sounders fans apparently have like 19,000 ticket holders...
I know, I know, I'll believe it when I see that those are actual purchased packages and not just deposits but that sounds like an awful lot.
A little off topic, but another thing those fans are very touchy about is the quality of *their* turf surface. Some evening claiming it's better than grass. God forbid you compare it to Giants stadium on one of their message boards....

Goff other than a general sort of opinion, what do most of the players seem to think about the evolution of artificial playing surfaces? Not that United would need one in this climate, although DC gets it's share of monsoon type weather...

Claiming any artificial surface is remotely superior to natural is absurd! What professional league in the world (outside of Siberian fields in Russia) allows them?!
Hailing from PA, an equally ridiculous claim is made by the PIAA. The high school athletics governing body thinks they know better and that a two-man refereeing system makes more sense than what the REST OF THE WORLD uses...

Enthusiasm in Vancouver has nothing to do with enthusiasm in Toronto. As I brought up previously, they're over 2700 miles apart; would it be reasonable to assume that crowds in LA will be good because they're good here in DC?

Vancouver could turn out brilliantly, but I'm strongly against expanding into Canada based solely on the fact that another, entirely different Canadian city was successful. If Vancouver wins a team, it should be because their bid was the best and that they could prove that there is a large number of enthusiastic potential fans. If all they have is "Well, look at Toronto", MLS should stop taking their calls.

Vancouver has always been a better soocer town than Toronto. I live in Toronto and I am surprised by the success and the biggest reason for it is that MLSE has advertised the team and MLSE has strong pull in the media. Vancouver would do really well, better than Montreal and Ottawa is a terrible idea. Vancouver would have the best support along with Portland of the expansion candidates.

No doubt -- Toronto is a big-time sports city. And they support their teams really well. My point was broader. They don't do the ESPN overload we have south of the border -- football isn't a religion, and they don't have the big-time college sports. Junior hockey doesn't compare... Plus, there are fewer pro teams to follow, even if Toronto has a full complement. I go to Nats games, but I also go to Os games. And I watch the BoSox, Mets and Yankees whenever I can on TV.

What I am saying is that American sports fans have more options/reasons to stay home.

I realize neither city is Toronto, but I think Vancouver and Montreal could both succeed -- at least better than American cities. My big concern is whether there are enough Canadian players to go around.

Subtopical Question: Especially for Toronto Heads: Is Cannabis,etc as decriminalized up there as I remember Vancouver being ten years ago? I.E. folks smoking blunts out in the *designated smoking areas at stadiums, etc...

MLS doesn't need another Canadian city, but the league would be better off, if Vancouver and Montreal were in the next group of four. Half the MLS franchises right now are pretty depressing. Portland, Vancouver, St. Louis and Montreal are probably best for the long run with Miami being a big ??????????

TFC tickets cost roughly $20-$100. I would say the average is around $35-$40. Private boxes also average around 40,000 a year and they have sold out 27 of them. Having said all that I think the team makes more money on consessions than ticket sales!

No artificial turf for an expansion team is a great idea! However, the league has more power to do that now, than they had 4-5 years ago.